Greetings from New Chair

So this is the question I asked myself: should this introductory WIL blog article be in the first or third person?  Good question.   I opted for first person.    

Hi.  I'm Nan Barker.  I was recently appointed to be chair of the JRCLS International Women in Law (WIL) Committee.  I am so excited to get to know you better as well as help you get to know each other better!

To start, let me give you some quick background information about myself.  I was born in Montana, pretty much raised in Salt Lake City and have lived in Arizona for almost 30 years.  I attended the University of Utah for my undergraduate degree in Political Science and received my law degree from BYU.  I married Dan Barker, 30 years ago this May, and we have five children ranging in age from 19 to 26.

Upon graduation from law school, I worked full time for a year with Brown & Bain (now Perkins Coie) in Phoenix and then part time for a year and a half with Gallagher & Kennedy, another Phoenix law firm.  Since then I have been at home raising our children.  I chaired the inaugural Phoenix Chapter WIL section a few years ago and for the past 4 years have been on the International WIL Committee.

Well, enough about me.  Let me now introduce you to the new WIL vice-chair, Deborah Hendrickson.  She is amazing, as you will soon see.  Deborah received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Arizona State University.  After being a stay at home mom of three children (and teaching private piano lessons in her home) for 16 years, she went back to law school at ASU and obtained her law degree.  After law school she served as a law clerk on the Arizona Court of Appeals and has been in small firm private practice since that time.  She was divorced and remarried to an attorney with five children.  For the last 17 years she and her husband have practiced together and raised their eight children in Arizona.

Deborah practices in the areas of Family Law and Probate and serves as a Judge Pro Tem in Family Court.  She also serves on the Board of Directors of the public utility company in the Phoenix area, Salt River Project.  She has served on the International WIL Committee for the past two years.  Her hobbies include family time, sewing, reading, theatre and classical music.  

Stay tuned for our upcoming game plan.  It will be posted later this week.